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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657860">Isn’t this a good thing?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquigglyAverageJoe/pseuds/SquigglyAverageJoe'>SquigglyAverageJoe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Something Wrong [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yandere Simulator (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:01:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657860</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquigglyAverageJoe/pseuds/SquigglyAverageJoe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ayano introduces her new boyfriend to her parents.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Something Wrong [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Isn’t this a good thing?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing he notices, when he walks into the living room, is the boy he’s never seen before.</p><p>He’s young. Probably about eighteen. He’s pale, average height, with black hair and grey eyes. And then, finally, he notices that his daughter is beside him and they’re holding hands—and something clicks, but he’s still at a loss. “...Who’s this?” He asks, and Ayano looks up at him, smiling softly, almost angelically. </p><p>Behind him, Ryoba squeals—he doesn’t need to turn around to know that his wife is grinning. “Oh, Ayano!” She says. “Who’s this?”</p><p>It’s two different tones, even if it’s the same question. The boy looks up at them and then glances at Ayano.</p><p>”...Um...” Ayano tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “...Taro, these are my parents. Mom, Dad... This is Taro. We’ve... um...” She’s blushing, she’s still smiling—he pauses. He’s never seen his daughter show emotion like this—and it looks <em>real.</em> “He’s my boyfriend!”</p><p>She’s giggling almost kind of nervously, absolutely giddy. There’s a pit in his stomach. No.</p><p>...No.</p><p>Ryoba takes a step forward, letting go of her suitcase. “Oh, Ayano—he’s adorable!” She’s grinning—he feels sick. “What’s his name again?” She isn’t taking her eyes off of him.</p><p>”Taro,” the boy says. “...Taro Yamada.”</p><p>His wife squeals again, looking absolutely excited. “Oh, darling, I told you she’d have a boyfriend by the time we got back! Oh, I’m so excited to meet you, Taro—have you been taking good care of my daughter?”</p><p>Taro glances at Ayano—his smile is kind of nervous. “I...” He glances at Ayano. “I think she’s been more of the one taking good care of me?” Ayano giggles again—like a teenage girl. It’s a weird sense of relief, to see her looking so normal, so average. She looks genuinely happy—but he’s never been more scared in his life. The anxiety’s risen into his throat—it hurts to swallow, so it doesn’t spill out of his mouth and make him say something he’ll regret.</p><p>He does not like Ryoba’s expression. “That’s so good to hear.” They’ve been traveling for a long time—he feels the jet lag. He’s exhausted. He’s glad to see his daughter finally, see that she’s doing better than he’s pretty sure she ever has—but this feels wrong—and Ryoba looks very energized. “Oh, Taro, you don’t need to get home or anything, do you? Why don’t you stay for dinner? I’d love to hear all the good things my daughter has to say about you.”</p><p>”Oh.” Taro looks at Ayano—and he stares, trying to see if there’s any sort of fear in his expression, but instead he smiles. He just wants to know what’s happened. “Sure.”</p><p>”Perfect.” Ryoba grabs his suitcase out of his hands and grins. “Darling, why don’t you talk to our daughter and her new boyfriend while I put her suitcases in our room? I can do it myself, you just be nice to them.” With her freehand, she cups his cheek and plants a kiss on his lips before grabbing her own suitcase. He’s already stopped trying to push Ryoba away when she leans in for a kiss—struggling against her is pretty useless. He knows to choose his battles. Without another word, she takes the suitcases with her to their bedroom.</p><p>He just stares at the boy, but he can’t think of anything to say—he’s pretty sure he missed his daughter while he was gone. “Come here, sweetheart.” Ayano reluctantly lets go of Taro’s hand, stands and lets him hug her—but for a moment, she wrap her arms around her and lets him kiss her forehead. “I missed you,” he says.</p><p>”I missed you too,” Ayano says. He’s not sure if he can believe that. When he lets go, she sits back down beside her boyfriend and grabs his hand.</p><p>He doesn’t know what to think of this. After a moment, Ryoba comes back. “I’ll start on dinner!” She chirps. “Taro, do you like zaru soba? It’s my husband’s favorite, isn’t it, darling?” She smiles, dark hair framing her face. “Ayano, would you mind helping me in the kitchen?”</p><p>Ayano glances towards Taro, reluctantly. “Don’t worry,” Taro says and he flashes a genuine smile at Ayano. “I’m not going anywhere.”</p><p>”Promise?” She smiles almost coyly.</p><p>”Promise.” Ayano leans over and gently presses a kiss to Taro’s cheek—the small act makes his face flush and Ayano gets to her feet and joins her mother in the kitchen.</p><p>And that leaves him alone with his daughter’s new boyfriend. “How... long have you been dating Ayano?” He needs to get an idea of what’s going on. Is Taro being kept here against his will?</p><p>”Not too long,” Taro admitted. “Maybe a week, if I’m being generous, but I’ve been... interested in her for awhile.”</p><p>”Interested?”</p><p>”Um... She’s been... around me a lot. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but she just showed up out of the blue—started putting erasers and notes and candy on my desk... She’s really nice.”</p><p>There’s a moment of silence—Taro doesn’t seem scared of his daughter. And he feels the slightest bit of hope in his chest. Maybe he had been a better father than he thought for Ayano to not turn out like every Aishi before her. Maybe he had done something right.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” Ryoba looks over at Ayano, dressed in black pants and a white t-shirt. She’s wearing her hear down, which is kind of weird—but maybe Taro likes her hair down. Ryoba dyed her hair purple once for her husband. “How long have you had your eye on Taro out there?”</p><p>“A while,” Ayano admits. “Ten weeks? Maybe more like eleven?”</p><p>Her mother giggles. “And you’ve dated how long?”</p><p>”...Like... five days? It’s been great.”</p><p>”Oh, sweetheart, I’m so happy for you!” There’s a pause. “...How did you...” She purses her lips. “<em>Get</em> him?”</p><p>Ayano’s blushing. “Well... It took a while, but eventually, I just asked him.”</p><p>”Oh, but—he looks like such a catch.” Another giggle. “I’m sure all sorts of girls were tripping over themselves to try and snag him.”</p><p>”Yeah, but it... worked out.” Ayano’s not looking at her.</p><p>”I’m sure it did.” Her mother reaches over, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ll have to tell me all about how it <em>worked out</em> later, dear.”</p><p>“Okay,” her daughter says.</p><p> </p><p>Dinner’s silent for awhile—when he looks over, his wife is still grinning. “So,” she starts after a while’s passed. Taro looks <em>nervous, </em>but not scared. “How did you and my Ayano meet?”</p><p>”Um...” Taro glances at him—probably because he’s been staring at him for awhile as if he’s going to jump out of his seat. He’s waiting—has his daughter really followed in her mother’s footsteps? Ayano was the spitting image of her mother in her youth—but that doesn’t mean she’s going to end up like her, right? “I think we... bumped into each other in the hallway? I helped her up. We barely even spoke to each other, but...” He clears his throat.</p><p>”Oh! Darling!” Ryoba exclaims. “Isn’t that how we met?” It was—he does not like these parallels. She grabs at his arm—he ignores it and continues to stare at the boy, squirming beneath his gaze.</p><p>“She made the first move,” Taro says. “Which is good, because I kind of thought she was out of my league.”</p><p>Ayano giggles. “I’m out of your league? You say that like I was surrounded by girls all the time.”</p><p>”One of those girls was my sister,” Taro responds and Ayano giggles again. ...It sounds too much like his wife’s laughter. He feels sick. “As for all the other girls...”</p><p>Ryoba perks up and leans forward. “Other girls?” She asks.</p><p>Ayano’s smile almost disappears—but she only has eyes for her new boyfriend. Taro picks at his food. “Um... A lot of girls have been around me for awhile. It was kind of weird. They’d hang out with me. Flirt sometimes. And then... something would happen, I guess.”</p><p>Ryoba’s grinning—he’s praying to whoever might be listening that this doesn’t go the way he thinks it’s going to. “What?” She presses.</p><p>”Well...” Taro glances at Ayano—beneath the table, they’re holding hands, though Ayano’s holding on so tight like Taro’s might slip away and her smile’s looking kind of strained. “I don’t really know. Sometimes they’d find another boy and then they’d be dating. Or they’d just stop talking to me. ...Or... They’d tell me they couldn’t continue to talk to me.” He rubs the back of his neck. “For awhile, it was kind of a downer. I was actually into some of them, and then I started thinking there was something wrong with me.</p><p>”That’s about when I started to really notice the gifts left on my desk. Or the notes in my locker. And it felt like someone was protecting me, watching over me, I guess.” He’s blushing. He looks over at Ayano again, who’s smile’s turned genuine. “When Ayano told me it was her leaving those things, I was happy. And then she admitted she had feelings for me, and...”</p><p>”Now we’re here,” Ayano sighs. “I think everything worked out well.”</p><p>”Must have been a hectic couple of weeks for both of you,” Ryoba says, but her smile’s disappeared.</p><p>It’s later when Taro’s left after a pretty long goodbye with Ayano, that Ryoba drags him into the kitchen to talk. “Something’s off,” she says.</p><p>”I’m so proud of her,” he says—and it’s true. He loves his daughter. His heart has overfilled with the utter love he has for his daughter. He thought, being kidnapped by a serial killer would make it impossible for his daughter to have any sort of normal life. He thought Ayano was going to be raised in a loveless, toxic, maybe abusive marriage.</p><p>”I’m not,” Ryoba says—there’s a fire burning in her eyes he hasn’t seen in awhile. “I...” She’s shaking, her fists clenched.</p><p>His heart sinks. “...What did you do?” He asks.</p><p>”I kept my promise,” Ryoba responds, shutting her eyes and trying to calm down. “I never told her about any of those girls I killed. But...”</p><p>”But what?” He swears, if Ryoba’s getting at what he thinks she is...</p><p>”This man’s going to leave her!” Ryoba says. “Because she didn’t get him right!”</p><p>”You don’t know that,” he responds.</p><p>”I do!” Ryoba says. “When you find your man, you have to make sure you... <em>keep</em> him.”</p><p>”How do you keep him?” He asks.</p><p>”My mother tortured him in the basement until he went insane and could never survive without her,” Ryoba said. “Her mother kept him tied to a chair with wheels on it until she strapped him to a table and did a surgery that made him paralyzed from the waist down and kept both of his arms broken so he couldn’t push himself. Her mother kept him isolated at home and used every opportunity she could to put him down and make him think no one would ever love him except for her. Her mother? Tried to win him over as a pacifist. <em>She</em> tried get him to fall for her on his own. And you know what? They married, had two children, but he knew he could leave. And he tried to leave one day.</p><p>”Aishis are not meant to survive as <em>pacifists, </em>darling. The world walks all over pacifists. When he tried to leave, she snapped—because we are not pacifists. We’re murderers, darling. If killing what threatens our lives and our <em>reasons to be alive,</em> and what we love, if that makes us murderers, then I guess that’s what they are! I guess I’m a murderer, and I guess I raised our daughter to be a murderer.”</p><p>Sometimes, he almost felt lucky with what Ryoba did to him. “What happened to him?” He asks.</p><p>”She snapped,” Ryoba says—clearly, she doesn’t care. “Killed him. From what I can tell it was really slow, really painful. And once she was lucid enough to realize what she had done, she gathered up her children and told them that one day, they’d meet a man they would love more than anything and he would be the reason to keep on living and they had to make sure he’d never get away and she sent them outside and burned the place to the ground with her and her husband inside.</p><p>”That’s what happens to us when we try to be normal, darling. We die. Do you want our daughter to die?”</p><p>”I’m proud of her, regardless,” he insists. Because he is—his daughter, in a line of violent women who’ll lie and kill and cheat and steal and do whatever it takes and only care about themselves, has done what she can to not end up like her mother or her grandmother or her mother’s grandmother. </p><p>“You know,” Ryoba says. “That’s the thing with us Aishis. When we snap, we <em>snap</em>. Do you want our daughter to snap?”</p><p>”Of course not.”</p><p>”Then that’s why I raised her the way I did. I... I taught her to clean up blood. A-And to lift with her legs. And that latex gloves only work for fifteen minutes before fingerprints soak through, and if you sharpen plastic knives you can stick them into someone and get them to shatter.” She sighs. “I... I must have not taught her enough. I... I <em>made</em> her do it this way, because she didn’t know enough to do it any other way.”</p><p>He doesn’t look at her. “You want our daughter to be a murderer?”</p><p>”I want our daughter to be happy, darling. Don’t you?”</p><p>”A happy murderer?”</p><p>”Yes.”</p><p>”Oh my god.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why did I marry you?”</p><p>”We need to talk with her,” Ryoba says. “We can’t... We can’t just...”</p><p>”Maybe,” he says. “We can let her live her own life instead of projecting onto our daughter?”</p><p>”Maybe we can have a civil conversation without you projecting onto our daughter’s boyfriend.”</p><p>”Civil—“ He groans. “We’re talking about murder, Ryoba! You want our daughter to be a murderer!”</p><p>”Ayano!” Ryoba steps away from him but he just follows her. “We need to talk!”</p><p>”Can’t we just let her be normal?” He asks.</p><p>”Normal?” She scoffs. “What’s normal for the girls in my family clearly isn’t your definition of normal. Darling—let’s quit arguing. Can’t we just both agree that we love Ayano and want her to be happy?” He can’t even look at her anymore. “Even if we have two very different ideas about how she’ll be happy?”</p><p>He bites his tongue—he never really argues with Ryoba, too scared of her. The only argument they’ve ever really had has been over Ayano.</p><p>“You...” Ayano’s voice draws him out of his thoughts. “You wanted to talk?”</p><p>”Yes, dear.” Ryoba’s smiling now. “Sit down. We have a lot to talk about.”</p><p>Ayano sits down. He sits down across from her and Ryoba sits directly next to him. “I already kinda know,” she says. “I... found a tape.”</p><p>”Did you, dear?” Ryoba grabs his hand and he almost pulls it out of her grasp—but Ryoba’s done worse. He reminds himself of that—she could always do worse. It’s the only think keeping him from hating her. “Which one?”</p><p>”I really hope it’s not the seventh,” he says. That’s not something he wants Ayano to know about. Ryoba squeezes his hand.</p><p>”No. I... can’t remember what number.”</p><p>“Hm.” Ryoba hums and brings his hand out from beneath the table, still in her’s. The dining room is cold, he notes. “Well, I think it’s time we talked about some of that, don’t you think, darling?”</p><p>Nevermind—he does hate Ryoba. He keeps silent. Ayano stares at the table, like she’s can’t look at either of them. “You guys said you met in high school,” she says.</p><p>”We did,” Ryoba said. “Oh, your father didn’t speak a word to me, the first time we met.” He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks over at him. “He didn’t need to, though. I started stalking him, and I heard his voice eventually. Doesn’t your father have the voice of an angel?”</p><p>Ayano shrugs. She’s still not looking. “You know,” Ryoba says, voice soft. “Some girls showed an interest in your father too. Ten of them,” she says. “It’s always ten that are the real threats. It can be...” Ryoba glances at him. “Difficult. To sort the real ones from the ones you shouldn’t worry about. But at a certain point, they’re all so easy to deal with, it doesn’t matter.”</p><p>Ayano speaks up. “The first one,” she says. “It’s the first one I listened to.”</p><p>Ryoba sighs. “Our first tape...” She sounds almost dreamy. “It’s true—the first one always is the most special. I’m sure there’s a lot that was confusing about that tape.”</p><p>Ayano shrugs. “I just...” She doesn’t look back up at them, trails off. He wonders what his daughter was about to say.</p><p>”It’s okay, dear. I know it was surprising.” Ryoba sighs. “I never got to be surprised about my parents. My mother didn’t hide anything from me. I just wanted to wait until you were old enough. To understand. Now that you’ve met your Taro, wouldn’t you do anything to see him?”</p><p>”Yes,” Ayano says. Her face is blanker than it was when Taro was here. “I would.”</p><p>Ryoba brightens. “Your father didn’t want you to know,” she says and looks up at him. “Just the lengths your mother went to to get him. But I’m sure you’ve pieced it together by now.”</p><p>”I have.”</p><p>Ryoba smiles. “They didn’t deserve to live, you know. Horrible girls. I loved every moment I spent killing them because they deserved it.”</p><p>”Ryoba,” he says.</p><p>”Darling,” she responds. “Why don’t you tell Ayano all about what happened after those girls weren’t in our way?”</p><p>”Your way,” he says. “They were in your way, you were the—“</p><p>”Darling.”</p><p>He sighs—he can’t stand it when Ryoba talks bad about them—as if their deaths were nothing, their lives meaningless, as if their disappearances hadn’t affected him. And yet, even as angry as he may be, he’d be stupid to ignore what Ryoba wants. Talking about it is nothing when you’ve experienced it. “Word had spread about what Ryoba did,” he says. “Rumors all over Akademi. She couldn’t attend school without hearing people whisper about her and she was worried that I would reject her if she confessed her feelings.”</p><p>“Yes,” Ryoba says and reaches over to stroke his hair. “I knew if he rejected me—Oh, I couldn’t bear the thought. I knew I wouldn’t be able to bear the reality. Honestly, I probably would have killed him on the spot.” Ayano visibly swallows and it breaks his heart. “Sorry, continue, darling.”</p><p>”She followed me home after school,” he continues. “And walked up to me and asked me if I could help her put something into her car. Because she didn’t have the upper body strength to do it herself. When I followed her to her van, I noticed there wasn’t anything to put in it, because there was nothing near by. All there was was a mattress.” He swallows forcibly. “I was going to turn around. Or maybe run away. But she had a syringe. And she drugged me. And I woke up tied to a chair in the basement.”</p><p>Ryoba’s smiling, still. “Oh, but there’s plenty of other ways to get the job done. The important thing is making sure your man <em>knows</em> he can’t leave you. Why, darling, you’d never dream of leaving me, would you?”</p><p>”I haven’t dreamed in years,” he responds.</p><p>”Of course you wouldn’t,” Ryoba says. “Because if he did, that’d mean I haven’t done enough to keep him. That’s how it works, dear—if you’re firm about it, he won’t leave. Of course, making sure he knows that you love him and would <em>die</em> without you would help too.”</p><p>He hated to admit it—but it did. Even after all of these years, or maybe because of them, he doesn’t have the heart to leave. Does he just view Ryoba as a hurting teenage girl still, desperate for his love? Or is he just a coward, and knows that that teenage girl grew into a woman who still knew how to use a knife?</p><p>”How’d you get rid of the girls?” She asks.</p><p>Ayano frowns. “I um... Spoke to them. And asked them real nicely.”</p><p>”...What?”</p><p>”...A lot of them were actually pretty nice,” Ayano said. “If I did them a favor, they’d do me one.”</p><p>”Yes, I’m sure, but how do you know they won’t come back for him?”</p><p>”...I guess I don’t.”</p><p>Ryoba sighs. “Did I not teach you enough? You remember how to clean up blood, don’t you?”</p><p>”Yes, I just...” Ayano’s wringing her hands. She looks up at Ryoba—his heart aches. His daughter looks more like a scared little girl than a murderer. “Taro wouldn’t love a murderer.”</p><p>”That’s okay,” Ryoba says. “Love doesn’t have much to do with it.”</p><p>Well, that’s alarming. “Ryoba,” he says.</p><p>”What?” She says. “It’s true.” She turns to him. “Oh, my darling, I love you, I promise, there is little I could ever love more than you—but you don’t need to love me for that.” One of her hands moves up his face, plays with his hair. She has no eyes for their daughter, only him. “I just need you... If I was worried about how you felt about me, I would have been a lot more gentle with you in the basement.”</p><p>”What?”</p><p>”Come on,” she says. “Darling, have I ever mistreated you?”</p><p>”You kept me tied to a chair for months—“</p><p>”But aside from that?”</p><p>”You stroked my cheek with a knife and talked about cutting open my chest.”</p><p>”It was romantic!”</p><p>”You str—“ He stops. He doesn’t want to get into an argument like this with Ryoba, at least not in front of Ayano. This is not a topic to be discussed in front of her.</p><p>”Yes,” Ryoba says. “I str—“ She giggles—this is funny to her, he guesses. She strokes his cheek. “The important thing,” she continues. “Is having him. It doesn’t matter how.”</p><p>”...But I did it wrong?”</p><p>”Yes, sweetheart. You did—but it’s okay.” Ryoba’s smiling gently. “I can teach you. You can invite him over, we’ll all get to know him, and then, I think, if you play your cards right, you might be able to just keep him in our basement for awhile, like I did with your father.” He wipes a bead of sweat off of his forehead. “The fact that he already seems to love you will help too—just tell him how much you love him, tell him you know what you’re doing. He’ll never leave you.”</p><p>”I feel sick.” He stands. Ryoba looks up at him, smiling.</p><p>”Go to bed, darling. You must be exhausted, after the long day we’ve had.”</p><p>He almost asks Ryoba to speak with him, in another room. He almost stands his ground—he doesn’t want their daughter to be a murderer, or a kidnapper. He doesn’t want Ayano to end up like her mother.</p><p>”While we’re talking,” Ryoba says. “Do you think you can help me with something? I think it’d make a good learning opportunity.”</p><p>The sick feelings follows him all the way up to bed—because he can’t argue with Ryoba.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t sleep well—he should. But for years, he’s slept in the same bed as Ryoba and her presence, while not comforting, is a constant. Her absence is noticeable. He thinks, after all these years of wanting time away from his wife, he should be glad just to have a moment alone, but he just feels uneasy. Even when Ryoba’s not in the room, he can feel her eyes on him in this way he can’t describe.</p><p>It’s like the basement all over again. It’s like knowing she’s somewhere around, knowing she could come back at any minute, but knowing there isn’t any chance of escape.</p><p>It’s barely six in the morning when he gives up, all sleeping’s achieved is fleeting nightmares that last for three minutes, images of blood and death and his wife, gone in seconds but waiting behind his eyelids. He can only stare at the ceiling for so long.</p><p>He makes his way to the living room—his wife and daughter aren’t there. There’s a noise—it sounds like it comes from the basement and it moves closer, closer.</p><p>The door to the basement opens and there’s Ryoba and Aishi. Ryoba’s giggling again and Ayano’s smiling—he checks for any sort of uneasiness, but doesn’t think that’s what he’s seeing. They’re both splattered in blood. He knows what’s in the basement—he does not like it.</p><p>”Oh,” Ryoba says when she sees him and moves closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and giving him an unnecessarily long kiss, cupping his face and smearing blood from her palms onto his face. “Morning, darling,” she says when they part.</p><p>”Did either of you get any sleep?” He asks, even though he knows the answer.</p><p>Ayano looks away sheepishly. “Sorry, dad.”</p><p>He looks up at his wife. “Ryoba, she has school, you know. You’re going to ruin her sleep schedule.”</p><p>”She doesn’t have school today,” Ryoba says. “She’ll be fine by tomorrow, won’t you, dear?”</p><p>Ayano nods. He tries to not think about what they were probably just doing. Ayano wanders off somewhere and Ryoba’s arms wrap around him again, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I got blood all over you... You should come take a shower with me.”</p><p>He wants to protest. Ryoba’s already grabbed him and started tugging him to their room. Fighting isn’t worth it.</p><p>Confidently, Ryoba steps towards the shower, starts undoing the buttons on his shirt. “I really am happy for Ayano, darling. Aren’t you?” She smiles up at him, takes off her own top.</p><p>He doesn’t know if he can keep lying—to Ryoba, to his daughter, to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck,” he breathes—he starts scrubbing harder. Ryoba’s humming to herself, audible from the living room. The kitchen’s just about clean, despite the stain on the counter that he can’t get off. There’s also a knife covered in blood, sitting in the kitchen sink but he can’t look at it without feeling those knots in his stomach, rising up...</p><p>He grabs the edge of the counter and takes a deep breath to steady himself. Footsteps on the linoleum draw him out of his thoughts and he looks over.</p><p>It never stops to surprise him how much his daughter looks like his wife, from back when she was in high school. The resemblance is uncanny—and it makes him sick to his stomach.</p><p>”Mom wanted me to ask you if you need any help,” she says. “...Are you okay?”</p><p>”Yes, sweetheart.” He brushes some of his hair out of his face. “Everything’s fine.”</p><p>There’s a long pause—he goes back to scrubbing but Ayano doesn’t leave. “Are you angry?” She asks. He doesn’t know how to answer. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t... I don’t...”</p><p>”I’m not mad at you, Ayano,” he says. “I’m...” He’s not going to say he’s happy for Ayano, because that’s not happy—that’s fear. “It’s your mother,” he says, quietly.</p><p>”Right.” She doesn’t show any sort of emotion. He has to admit something that hurts—his daughter is not normal. His daughter isn’t... just as bad as her mother, but she’s going down the same path she is, and that scares him. How long is this going to go on if he lets Ayano do this? Does he call the cops? Does he get Ryoba to stop? Does he sit Ayano down and talk to her about this? “I... Do you think...” She hesitates.</p><p>”What is it?” He asks.</p><p>”Do you think... I did the wrong thing?” Ayano asks. “Mom says I should have killed the other girls.”</p><p>”No,” he says. “You shouldn’t have. And I’m so proud of you. I’m glad you didn’t kill anyone.”</p><p>”You are?”</p><p>”Very.” He scrubs harder—it needs to come off.</p><p>”...But I... <em>wanted</em> to kill them.”</p><p>”I’m sure you did,” he sighs. “But you didn’t. And that’s okay. It’s...” He rubs at his temples. “I’m not going to say it’s normal to want to murder people, Ayano, but... Thoughts mean a lot less than actions and you didn’t kill them. And that’s good. And now you have a boyfriend that you love and treat well, and that’s good. Your mother’s jealous because she doesn’t know how to form relationships that aren’t based off of violence and doesn’t know how to not live through you instead of loving you and being proud.”</p><p>”Darling?” Ryoba called from the living room. “What are you talk about?”</p><p>”Nothing.” He threw the wash cloth down at the counter. That stain wasn’t going to come out at any point today and he just had to admit it to himself. “I’m proud of you, okay? Are you still inviting your boyfriend over today?”</p><p>”Yeah, at four. Is that okay?”</p><p>”More than okay.” He reaches over and squeezes his daughter’s shoulder—and tries to ignore the knots in his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>Ryoba won’t stop giggling, and it’s probably freaking Taro out. “You think the two of you will be okay again while Ayano and I cook dinner?”</p><p>Ayano’s still staring at her boyfriend, absolutely drunk on her love, clearly adoring him. At the very least, it looks somewhat mutual. Taro’s smiling. “I think we’ll be fine,” he says, awkwardly and Ayano pecks his lips, moves toward the kitchen with her mother. Their voices are audible, but he can’t make out the words right now. Taro probably can’t either.</p><p>He hesitates a moment—is it worth possibly scaring Taro away? He hesitates, keeps his voice quiet. “You love my daughter, don’t you?” He asks.</p><p>Taro looks a bit surprised, up at him. “Um... Yeah. I love Ayano.”</p><p>”That’s good,” he says. There’s a moment of quiet before he continues. “I think you should leave. You’ll be doing her a favor.”</p><p>Taro still looks surprised, but also confused. “Leave? ...I’m sorry if I did anything to offend you—“</p><p>”You didn’t,” he interrupts, keeping his voice even. His wife’s giggling is still audible. “And you should probably come back quickly, but when you leave, you should return with the police.”</p><p>”...What?”</p><p>”You love Ayano, don’t you?”</p><p>Taro doesn’t answer the question. “Are you okay?” He asks. “Do I need to call an ambulance, or...?”</p><p>”Darling!” Ryoba calls. “Is everything okay?”</p><p>”Sure!” He responds, and really hopes she doesn’t leave the kitchen. She giggles, but stays in. “I can’t say everything, but you should leave the house quickly, call the cops and say there’s a hostage situation happening.”</p><p>The color drains from Taro’s face. “H-Hostage...?” At the very least, his voice is quiet. He looks horrified. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>”I really can’t explain this all,” he says. “Not without them overhearing. Please, leave.”</p><p>Slowly, Taro gets to his feet, his hand in his pocket, about to pull out his phone. “...Okay...” He looks freaked out. He moves, achingly slow—when the door closes, the noises stop in the kitchen. “What was that?” Ryoba asks, popping out. Behind her, Ayano looks confused. “Darling, you didn’t scare away Ayano’s boyfriend, did you?”</p><p>”No,” he says. “He forgot his phone. He’ll be back real soon.”</p><p>They go back in the kitchen. In a few minutes, Taro’s back in, still looking confused, and Ayano walks out of the kitchen again to hug him. Taro returns it. “That was fast,” Ayano says.</p><p>”I... didn’t need long.”</p><p>”My dad said you left your phone at home and went to go get it.” Ryoba’s standing in the doorway still.</p><p>”...I walk fast.”</p><p>Ayano raises an eyebrow. “No, you don’t...?” They lock eyes. Taro kisses her cheek. Still in the doorway Ryoba giggles.</p><p>Her giggling is audible, even over the slowly drawing closer sirens, wailing from a distance.</p>
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